Social Commerce: How To Sell Better On Social Media

Social commerce is gaining traction as we see more and more people purchasing through social media platforms.

But what is social commerce, and how can businesses take advantage of it to achieve more sales?

Let’s take a look at some of the key strategies and techniques you can adopt… 

What is social commerce?

Social commerce is like eCommerce only it is specific to social media platforms that support online sales of both services and products.

When someone buys a product or service through a social media platform, we may refer to this as social commerce.

As we see social media apps growing in popularity, we are also seeing revenue growth potential for businesses.

The ease at which customers can be led to eCommerce purchasing is growing, with platforms like TikTok raising the stakes in recent times. 

If you sell services or products on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Depop, or Pinterest etc. – you are in social commerce.

• Use your customer’s preferred social media platforms 

Begin by looking at which platforms are best for your business. Don’t commit to posting content on several platforms as your audience is likely not tuned-in to every platform out there. Instead, consider the buying behaviour of your audience, their age, motivations, typical activities and tailor your choice of social media platforms accordingly. 

For instance, Facebook’s largest audience demographically is those from ages 25 – 35. So, if you are selling products suited to young mums or men with a certain level of disposable income, this could be a good platform.

Younger Millennials and Gen-Z audiences are far more likely to use Instagram and TikTok users are around 57% female and 43 % male, with 43% aged between 18 and 24 years, globally. The more targeted your audience, the more engaged they are. The more engaged they are, the more likely they will be to visit your store and purchase. 

•  Optimise your social media content 

After choosing your platforms, build a social media content plan that your customers will appreciate. Whether it includes ‘how to’ tutorials on YouTube, or unique TikTok dance routines, the greater the interaction, the more sales you are likely to acquire.

Include links to your eCommerce store within your posts to make buying easy. Use keywords in your captions and trending and relevant hashtags that your audience will search for, and provide as many products details as you can to become more findable.  

• Use live-streaming to communicate new products and offers 

One of the ways you can direct sales to your eCommerce website is by highlighting discounts and offers via live-streaming.

This approach provides a greater impetus for your customers to purchase through the use of ‘one day only’ type offers, for example.  If you are using influencers to talk about your products on live social media streams, providing them with unique sale codes can add exclusivity to an offer, means you can measure the success of the campaign accurately, and helps you learn more about your customers for future campaigns. Seasonal discounts or special events like Mother’s Day are also a good opportunity for sales promotions. 

• Consider social media ads 

Reaching new customers through organic efforts takes lots of time and effort. Social media advertising is a good, alternative way of building awareness with new customers and a strong platform to send traffic to your website.

The insight tools they use also provide valuable data on your audience and help build more successful sales campaigns.

Not only this, but advertising is relatively low cost and your budget can be managed effectively through the Cost-Per-Click (CPC) model.

As the sophistication of social media tools has grown, so has the scope of creativity available with designing your own ads.

The real beauty of social media advertising is its ability to target content very specifically to your audience. It’s also a proven method of achieving new sales.

Final thoughts

Today, the speed at which new trends pop on and drop off the consumer radar is fast. While this does mean effort, the social media advantages of high measurability, broad reach, and brand awareness are capable of bringing about impressive eCommerce success if done correctly.